Saturday, May 25, 2013

Month 7: Debt Repayment Update

Month 7, as expected, wasn't quite as fruitful as expected for debt repayment due to a number of things like the boys birthday party, an impromptu kitchen floor renovation, and an emergency surgery for DH which had him off work (and not getting paid) for a week. I did delay this post one week since last weekend we were finally getting back on track from DH being off work. Last month we were at $54,506. Since then, we're down another $709 which brings us to:

$53,797

I had hoped this number would be well above $1000 but life happens and thankfully we could still contribute to principal debt repayment despite a one week set back. I read somewhere that disturbingly, most families could not deal with a one week delay in their pay. This means they couldn't even turn to credit to cover their bills. It feels pretty darn nice to have weathered that situation successfully.

For Month 8, my focus is effectively reducing our household energy consumption. On average, our household consumes approximately 600kW of electricity per month. Usually half of this consumption is off-peak while the next largest proportion is mid-peak and the smallest proportion - usually in the 100 range is peak time consumption. In the Summer, the number skyrockets to around 1000 due to air conditioner use. This summer I want to cut the a/c use in half as well as reduce consumption in general by improving efficiencies - more caulking, insulating our garage better, window treatments, etc. We have a room above the garage that is basically unusable in the winter and summer due to the garage being below so this summer we'd like to fix that. Reducing air conditioning consumption will be challenging as most of our family suffers from allergies and having the a/c going helps with those tremendously so it will be a balance.

For Gas, we usually average between 60-70 cubic metres per month (gas furnace, gas water heater - rental, gas stove). I have already turned our heat setting down on the water heater by one setting. I am really going to try to be more conscious about my use of the stove - batch cooking will help to reduce overall cooking time since reheated meals won't take as long. I am also going to try to eat more meals that don't involve use of the stove. I'm assuming most of the efficiencies here will show in the winter from insulation and caulking.